


Sgame Mod Spotlight

by Luigicat11



Category: Homestuck
Genre: SBURB (Homestuck), Sburb Guide (Homestuck), mods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:47:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28388775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luigicat11/pseuds/Luigicat11
Summary: Sburb or whatever your particular species's Sgame is called is an... interesting game, and thus has a lot of interesting mods.  Today we will be looking at some of those mods.
Kudos: 7





	1. Preface: How Modding This Game Works

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Sburb Mod Showcase](https://archiveofourown.org/works/941791) by [graveMusic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/graveMusic/pseuds/graveMusic). 
  * Inspired by [Sburb Glitch FAQ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/340777) by [GodsGiftToGrinds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodsGiftToGrinds/pseuds/GodsGiftToGrinds). 



So, if you're reading this part instead of skipping past it, you're probably wondering exactly what a mod of Sgame entails. Well, it's complicated. You see, "modded" and "vanilla" are kinda nebulous concepts when it comes to Sgame. Mods, or at least ones that don't fuck you over and make the game unwinnable (with at least one notable exception; looking at you Mythological Role Overhaul), tend to sorta become vanilla in a sense over certain portions of Paradox Space. This is because of the game's nature. It is both a game and an existential reproductive system, and as such changes to the game's code will change the genetics involved, spreading those modded genes should a Session holding them be successful. This also means mods that aren't directly downloaded from the source are subject to genetic drift and will probably be a bit different from the original. You may even have some mods installed already and not even know it. Heck, all that post-Denizen content is theorized to have originally been mods to add additional story content and actually get some of the odd things that were barely implemented into normal gameplay (like the Earthsea Borealis originally only existing in the form of the Scratch Construct and Angels initially only existing if you were unlucky enough to roll them as a Land attribute) working as something resembling legitimate-albeit-optional game content.

Basically, the world of Sgame mods is a weird and sometimes-wonderful, often-terrible one, even moreso than the modding scene for most other games with large playerbases. We'll be going over the good, the bad, and the ugly of these mods and the lineages they've wrought, so feel free to recommend your favorite mod or warn against a particularly nightmarish one and me and a few friends'll look into it. Speaking of nightmarish mods, or at least ones with probably-unwittingly-nightmarish consequences, well... I suppose there is a bit of a bird-flipping elephant in the room here. Gather 'round next time, kids, because our first actual showcase will be on the big one. The mod that launched a community with millions of years of history. How did this mod get so widespread and yet go just about completely unknown through millions of years of gameplay and countless poor hapless suckers getting roped into its even-glitchier-than-normal maw? That's a question whose answer will leave many accusing the messenger of trolling.


	2. Classpecting Mod Spotlight: Mythological Role Overhaul Part 1: The Aspects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So here we are. The big one. This mod has me conflicted, really. On one hand, it's brought us some really cool Aspects (I certainly wouldn't be a native Rainbound if this mod had never been made to pilfer it from) and some neat Classes, and has basically created the larger Sgame community almost entirely. On the other, well... Let's save that for the actual spotlight.

Alright, the premise of this one is simple: Take the Classpecting system from the closest thing to the "base" game we've got and give it this massive update. New Classes, new Aspects, and reworking the relationships between the existing ones a bit. Sounds innocent enough, right? Hahaha, if you've never heard of this mod and none of this sounds familiar to you, then prepare to be surprised. Let's go over the changes, starting with the Aspects.

Time/Space

This is probably the least changed pair. Of course, that may have been out of necessity. Time and especially Space are instrumental to the completion of the game, and fucking them up would be one of the most costly mistakes a person could ever make.

Life/Doom

The second-least changed pair. The duality themes have been removed from both, and the rebellion vs restriction component is gone, but it's still the same growth vs decay pair at its core. The core tenants of what make these Aspects what they are have not been altered. Unlike...

Blood/Breath

You guys know the basics of Blood and Breath, right? Blood is social cohesion, unity, relationships, and reinforcement. Breath is freedom, motivation, direction, and destruction. In just about those orders. Guess which parts were focused on in this mod. Yeah, this mod basically makes Bloodbounds into superpowered indestructo-guys and Breathbounds into chaotic hurricanes of carnage, which they would have potential to be anyway, but still it kinda generalizes and hyperfocuses on that one piece of this pair. You'll find that flanderization has led to a lot of things about the MRO Classpecting system. Still, it's relatively stable. We haven't even gotten to the pairs that really fuck shit up yet.

Heart/Rage

Yeah, you read that right. Heart and Rage as a pair, of all things. It's a creative decision, I'll give the dev that (for what it's worth since their identity was lost to time and they're probably double-dead by now). The basic logic is that Heart changes things from the inside and Rage changes things from the outside. The subtle approach vs the forceful approach. I guess I understand the general idea, and for a rework/overhaul that doesn't quite care about the way things are usually I guess it works well enough. There's still some bugs though. You see, Complementary Aspects are pretty deeply connected; you can do the one of their deals by doing the other's in reverse, so when you change what an Aspect's Complement is, you essentially change a huge chunk of the meaning of the Aspect. This makes Heart less Mindy and more Ragey, and Rage less Hopey and more Hearty, if that makes sense. It also makes 「Infinite Rage」 even more buggy, partially in that instead of messing with the game's ability to identify you because of the sheer density of shenanigans around you, it actually makes you a different person while you're using it. Scary stuff.

Mind/Fate

So you may have been wondering where Mind went if it's no longer Heart's Complement. Well here it is. Instead of the duality between the true self/who you are at your core and the many selves/who your decisions have made you into, it's a duality between logic and instinct. It takes Mind's ability to let you know what the many outcomes of a single decision and makes it the forefront of the Aspect, pairing it up with a brand new Aspect that takes a desired outcome and shows you the decisions you need to make to get there. They also introduced Mind having electric powers which makes sense and is neat. Fate's an alright Aspect, though faith is (normally) more Hope's deal. Personally I prefer the mods that pair it with Forks.

Stars/Hope

Not quite the Stars Aspect you may be thinking of that's all about beauty and gandeur and the like, but attraction isn't too far off from it. This mod has taken Hope's delusion bit, rejection of reality and whatnot, and refined it into rejection in general (even though both Hope and Rage have had elements of rejection), and gave it a foil in an Aspect of attraction and acceptance. They also put in a gravity bit to them. To put it in terms of other video games, Stars's power is basically Katamari Damacy, and Hope's has become Sans Undertale. Some other mods that use both versions of the Stars Aspect call the MRO version Star, singular. On top of that, most mods that include MRO!Stars AKA Star have it paired up with some Aspect that mimics the rejection and repulsion deal of MRO's incarnation of Hope. The name of that one varies but I'm most familiar with the one called Scream.

Void/Mist

This is an interesting one. Void's obfuscation is a pretty inescapable part of the Aspect, but instead of keeping Void paired up with Light or making some other Aspect more directly related to revelation, they paired it up with a new Aspect based on a different type of obfuscation. They took Void's connection to things that aren't and nullification, and gave it a foil in an Aspect that's all about things that are and substantiating them. Void obfuscates because it makes things, such as its Players, phase out of reality. Mist obfuscates because it makes things, such as its Players, so real that the game thinks they're everyone/thing and everyone/thing is them. In fact, Mistbounds are able to actually turn into other people and copy their abilities and stuff like that. This has made Mist popular in the modding community, despite what a buggy mess it is. Can't say I blame them.

Light/Law

Now for those of you who know the Law Aspect, this might bewilder you. Law, opposed to Light of all things? Well, yes. Its origins were in a mod that, surprise surprise, flanderized Light to be the luck Aspect first and foremost. Light blesses desirable outcomes to increase their likelihood, Law sentences undesirable outcomes to decrease their likelihood. This is also why Law has some darkness and blinding-related powers. Most modders that took the Aspect (usually pairing it up with a more sensible foil like Din) didn't bother to scrub it and/or thought it was cool enough to just throw it in.

Rhyme/Flow

This pair's an interesting one since there was a bug in some early versions of the mod that actually reversed what they do. Aside from that, they're a pretty standard fire/ice pair. Rhyme's the icy one all about being chill and making sure the team gets break time. Flow's the fiery one all about firing people up and not stopping 'til we start dropping. Probably the most unsurprising addition in this whole mod. Just about every modder and their mom who adds new Aspects has thrown in _some_ fire and ice pair, though the interpretations tend to vary enough that multiple different fire/ice pairs can coexist. I guess everyone just had a collective agreement that that particular elemental duo was conspicuously missing from the base game yet no one could agree on what such a pair would actually do or mean apart from the obvious-as-the-fact-that-Sonichu-is-a-recolor.

Might/Sand

Strength vs weakness: flowing as one vs shattering to bits. The honorable knight vs the wily rules lawyer. Might boosts up the weak and Sand tears down the strong. Might meets a challenge in kind and Sand cheats its way around the challenge. It's a pretty simple dynamic. These two are also decently popular, though not as much as the ensemble darkhorse Aspects like Mist and Rain. You'll sometimes even see MRO's Might alongside a certain other popular version of Might, though depending on the mod that version might be called Vim or this version might be called Tides. I personally prefer the versions that call MRO!Might Tides. It's still fitting, doesn't cause any confusion between the Vim stat and the Vim Aspect, and there's a lot more puns to be made with Tides than Vim.

Dream/Rain

Here's another one many of you will be scratching your heads at. Rain's been practically inseparable from Snow since forever. Those of you who weren't part of the little bubble of Paradox Space held hostage by this mod and its bloodline probably never even considered the possibility of this chaotic madness Aspect being paired with anything else but the Aspect of order and logic. Funny thing is, Dream in this version sorta fit that bill. You see, Dream in this mod was the Aspect of ordered, systematic creativity while Rain was unrestricted, boundless creativity. You can still kinda see that in their modern incarnations, but obviously their niches have sort of diverged from each other.

There are also some Aspects that popped up in later versions. I'll only go over the ones that are actually properly paired up within the mod itself. Maybe some day I'll add in the unpaired ones if you really want but they aren't exactly... "done", if you know what I mean.

Sight/Sound

Subjectiveness and the world of perception and symbolism, in contrast to objectiveness and communication. Sight has all sort of cool light shows and the Fuckoff Symbolism Zone and the way perception and reality shape each other. Sound is more grounded. It's output; the meaning independent from what something is. It's all pretty abstract, but I like the communication pair. I just think they're neat.

Dust/Coins

Value through hard work in the future vs value in the here and now. Dust is about how if you put your time and effort into something, you'll get _something_ out of it. "If the fool persists in his folly, he will become wise." and whatnot. Coins on the other hand is all about appraising things; getting a good honest look at their true value of something without the need for any labor that would cost extra. Coinsbounds can also metalbend for some reason. My best guess is it's because coins are made of metal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this took a long time. I'm gonna have to split this one up because it's so big.


End file.
